Grateful Dead

Epic set. They had only repeated Lost Sailor > Saint over the course of five shows. Lost Sailor came so late in the second set that it sandwiched drum/space. Hight Time and Comes a Time before drums! She Belongs to Me in the Jerry ballad slot. The first Gloria since the Melkweg. Don't miss the Spoonful either. Spooky and trippy.

yeah, Brent's Hammond scares the shit out of me every time on Spoonful...probably my favorite show out of 80-90 that I attended

RODGER ALLINSONboth of these richmond shows were really godd ones th comes a times of 1985 were always the goods

This show has long been on my wishlist.

Simply an unbelievable night of music. The Samson was epic, then High Time, followed by a great He's Gone, a spooky Spoonful. and then Comes a Time, and it goes on and on. I mean all three of those great Jerry Ballad's before Drums. And that Gloria was rip roaring fun. What a great dancin' night.

I was front row for the first set of this show, right in front of Jerry. I was with a bunch of friends from the Annapolis area and we were definitely working at orthogonal angles to the rest of the world as the show began. Everything was smoking until after Brent's solo in Rooster; I was just to the left of the right-side speaker set and his solo fried me, although not as much as our friend Brian who chose that moment to bolt from the Coliseum and chase (and be chased by) his own personal demons across many of the building-tops on the Richmond skyline. So, everyone has their "I swear" Dead moments and this was one of mine. After Brent's solo I was starting to tweak and I was starting to panic. Just then, I look up and Bobbie is looking right at me and literally pulls me back in with his slide solo (as hard as that is to believe). By the apex of his solo he was standing in front of Jerry and right in front of me. What could have been a second skyline casualty was averted by an attentive band member. Well, your mileage may vary anyway. Whether or not that happened, it was still an incredible show in an acoustic wonderland. Too bad the second night locked us out hence... Mike

This show blew everyone away. It was the best of 85' save the Sunday night Greek show. Nice. One note is that Richmond police arrested like 600 some people in the two days of these shows. They arrested for things like urinating in public and underage drinking along with all of the usual things that you normally hear. They were just Jackasses. I remember being nervous the whole time in the lot. The Dead decided that they wouldn't ever play back here again. Well, weeks leter after Richmond calculated the millions of dollars in economic impact The Dead brought over the weekend they tried to back peddle but it was too late. I don't like Richmond much for this even if it is Bubby's home town. Dougles

Jerry just hit some balanced sweet place that night. High time was sooo good and spoonful let us all know something was happening. I loved it when Phil yelled out "Love Ya!!!" after the gimme some loving. Pure Joy!

One of the greatest shows I ever saw/heard. I was one of the peeps busted after the show. "Flying high" in a Richmond jail was actually fun...some heads were smoking in the cell...hilarious. Joke of a courtroom session next morning...never paid the fine.

One of the greatest shows I ever saw/heard. I was one of the peeps busted after the show. "Flying high" in a Richmond jail was actually fun...some heads were smoking in the cell...hilarious. Joke of a courtroom session next morning...never paid the fine.

One of the greatest shows I ever saw/heard. I was one of the peeps busted after the show. "Flying high" in a Richmond jail was actually fun...some heads were smoking in the cell...hilarious. Joke of a courtroom session next morning...never paid the fine.

just plain awesome truly an epic 2nd second set for the ages "The'll be dancin..........." “The Omnipotent Grateful Dead!”

I too was one of the arrested. In the lot b4 the show. cops said we would be out by showtime lol. scored tix for the 2nd nite while in the lockup how about that. had to stay in town until monday to make 2nd court appearance but i stayed with friends that were busted too so we had a peaceful vist. still dont like richmond but two fantastic shows.

thought the cops were harsh until I made it to the naziesque cap center. hot sets!

These were some great shows but were marred by an almost nazi like police presence. Being my hometown I knew what to expect. Unfortunatly the out of town Deadheads had no idea that the Richmond police had a long history of concert busts. I remember distincly the tension in the air and the cops on horseback clubs in hand looking like they wanted a reason to crack some skulls.These were the Deads last shows in Richmond. After this few bands came to Richmond anymore.

This was the show I've always said "made me a Deadhead". It was the 5th show I saw live and was the most memorable. As I listened to the Gloria on sirius on my way home from work, I realized it was 22 yrs ago today I was flying so high. I even remembor the smell of the auditorium. The buzz in the air was intensified when the rest of our friends from south Florida showed up. We were celebrating our friend Dave's 100th show that night. The Comes a Time was so beautiful and so magical. The audience was so mesmorized you could hear a pin drop. I still to this day get chills and choked up when I listen to this show. It's great to be a deadhead, isn't it?

I was also one of the many busted. Unfortunate for me it was before the first nite show. Made it out and got that miracle for the second nite. Still have my first nite ticket. But all in all what a wonderful two nites of music.

I play the tape for good luck when I need it. It is far and beyond the BEST SHOW i attended of almost 100 gigs. Well, my first show really was the best, but this one was downright absolutely SPECIAL....everything from the juxtaposition of the pick it up Bob, slow it down Jerry exchanges, the setlist itself, the vibe, the EVERYTHING. I mean, the "She Belongs to Me" still to this day gives me serious GOOSEBUMPS when I listen to it. And those don't even compare to the WHALEBUMPS I get when I listen to the reading Jerry did on "Comes a Time." Anybody can say what they want. But this show was the end all of everything that embodies Grateful Dead in the live setting. (and then there's the Shakedown Street from Merriweather some 5 months earlier. 85 was a wonderful year and all of us lucky enough to catch even one show that year were just that, lucky. ; ) Because 86 went downhill fast IMO.....(still loved it though, yeah, i'm bizarre.) ~Tom ( The AllTomMitt Drawing Machine)

Hey all!!!! I am a resident of Charlotte NC for now...... I am about to lose my job in the mortgage business and moving to Richmond VA....back to family and old friends. Life is so beautiful !!!!! I've got 2 neices, great parents and good people there

Hey all!!!! I am a resident of Charlotte NC for now...... I am about to lose my job in the mortgage business and moving to Richmond VA....back to family and old friends. Life is so beautiful !!!!! I've got 2 neices, great parents and good people there

my first......um....pretty good for first huh???

We could not get tickets and some heads pushed the doors open and hundreds got in i met my friend on the floor he knocked over a security guard on the way in. We happened to see the same security guard on the way out we thought we were in trouble. He looked at us and said I did a lot of good tonight didn't I! What a great night.

Drove down from American University with 3 friends. Had no "police" trouble. I had only learned most of the songs by listening to my buddy B's bootlegs during first semester. I remember loving the first set "Jack Straw". Second set; history. The "Lost Sailor>drums>space>Saint" was mind blowing. The 'Hes Gone" was so beautiful, we almost wept. Bobby's admonition of the crowd during "Gloria" is something I will take to my grave. As it was my first show, I even enjoyed "Day Job" although I was by far in the minority.

drove down from Rochester, NY with girlfriend and her brother with no tickets. Both nights got in from people kicking the doors open, almost crushed the second night though. I remember cops on horseback and people throwing bottles at them. It was dark outside I remember, great shows though, my 6th and 7th and I was totally hooked. Got out to my car (a black cadilllac eldorado) after the second show to find someone had put a Jerry sticker on it, we thought we were hallucinating at first until we realized it was really there. Slept in that car in a rest area I think. I never saw a bad show, but these were smokin'

This was one of my all-time favorites. I really liked the venue (although Cops outside were over aggressive). The Sound was good and the place was spacey. 2nd set, Jerry just played one Ballad after another and Bobby was keeping that roler coaster ride going inserting upbeat songs in between. The true greatness of this show is evidenced by the Dayjob encore. The band's way of saying that they really enjoyed the night.

Being from Richmond, I knew what to expect from the local police, so we tailgated at my apartment 10 minutes away, and went straight to the show from there with minimal parking lot time. One of the absolute best shows I ever attended. Anyone remember Mickey kept going to his back set of drums anticipating the "drums" segment, only to be stopped by "Comes a Time"? Then when Bobby launched "Lost sailor", he just shrugged and laughed....

This show always makes me smile. This may have been my best show, it certainly was the wildest show I ever went too. That Gloria at the end, where Bobby couldn't spell Gloria correctly was classic. I just remember pure pandamoneum on the dance floor for the second set first night. I always consider this the "circus" show, it was a total nuthouse in there. And those arrests were crazy, there were three undercover cops, who weren't undercover at all, and they would walk like they were drunk for about 30 feet, grab someone's bowl right out of their hand and put the cuffs on them. I do remember talking to head on tour right after the show, and this was his 168th show, and he testified, best one yet, but it was still the mid 80's, with many blessed treats to come. G L R O I A......

If you can find an audiance version of this show, it is way better than the soundboard.

This was first time all 5 brothers were at a show together - Things I remember. The camouflage being ingested prior to entering the building, the lights going down the roar of the crowd and all the goodies being passed around 1/2 way between the stage and the soundboard. Parrish running out on stage when Jerry's guitar was not feeding into the PA system during the jam in Dancing and when it was fixed the roar from the crowd. The transition between Dancing and Cold Rain and Snow was just perfect, Brown Eyed-Jack Straw-Don't Ease. All 5 brothers drinking cold beers and smoking cigs during intermission with ear to ear grins. The second set with one surprise song after another, Brent yelling Got to be Funk 3 or 4 times prior to Samson. As you can tell by the song selection it was raining pretty good in Richmond on All-Saints day. We got the Saint out of Space which was awesome. She Belongs to Me - Gloria (she might have climbed on the space shuttle or gone on off and run for President - don't matter much to me - she makes me happy as can be now) Jerry's guitar playing/flashes during Gloria was unbelievable. The person who drove us from the Halloween party the night before drinking spook punch - flipped out during the first set took off for VA beach with my clothes, but not my ticket for the next night. Bertha was an awfully fitting opener on the second. Xian they had played Gloria in Irvine in April as the encore.

...what would have been my second show was denied! Luckily only one of two denials over the next decade. Walked around the Coliseum with the Cristiansand Clan from Toano in the rain for hours, dosed, looking for tickets. No luck, but still a high time.

Hahahaha Really the only way we got into the show some big crowd busted down the door or window, and we kinda filtered our way in lol so much fun

I miss listening to the dreamy way Jerry falls into Comes A Time. That & I love & adore this show! I have scratched my disc again - can somebody send me a copy? POBox 65/ Otego, NY 13825 Thank you from the bottom of mine heart

when we pulled off I-95 into Richmond, we saw our first "need a miracle" signs MILES from the venue. It was our first clue we should have bought tickets. But we'd already invested 10 hours of driving (cuz that's what southern Deadheads had to do), so we went to check out the scene. Massive crowd outside - mostly happy and jamming. Circling the Coliseum - suddenly Deadheads on the inside burst a couple doors open, and I made a beeline to get in before security could start cracking heads (which they did for people behind me). My GF at the time was so pissed off she left me there.